Director billy wilders sunset boulevard ranks among the most scathing satires of hollywood and the cruel fickleness of movie fandom. At andrew lloyd webbers opening night party for his musical version of sunset boulevard 1950, billy wilder provided that answer to a woman asking about the role of the mysterious dead chimpanzee introduced early in the film. Youre going to hear a lot about it because an old time movie star is involved one of the biggest. The film tells the story of struggling screenwriter joe gillis holden who is desperately trying to sell his latest script to a producer at paramount in order to get out of his dismal financial situation. As broadwayworld previously announced, glenn close will star as norma desmond in sunset boulevard, presented by english national opera eno and. This internet movie database page has the full lowdown on all of sunset boulevards trivia and quirks, in addition to providing lots of information on the cast, the director, etc. True hollywood story series, there was sunset boulevard maybe the darkest, most cynical movie ever made about what hollywood is really like. Sunset boulevard 1950 movie summary and film synopsis on. Normas massive stardom was entirely constructed around her youthful beauty, and once that freshness faded as she aged, the movie industry had no use for her. Every movie about the movie biz needs a movie maker, and in sunset boulevard, thats sheldrake fred clark. While joe believes he can manipulate her to his benefit, but he soon finds out hes dead wrong.
Glenn closes sunset boulevard remake proves shes not. Shooting sunset boulevard as a black and white picture was a necessary choice in delivering the material in the most holistically effective way. This also means it has been incorporated into the dramatica story expert application itself as an easily referenced. The famous story about the faded hollywood star and the young screen writer. The sunset strip occupies a short stretch of sunset boulevard, but its reputation as a stomping ground of gangsters, glamour girls, rock. Sunset boulevard symbols, allegory and motifs gradesaver.
The point is that the crumbling hollywood of sunset boulevard is built on the silent era. Film writer richard corliss describes sunset boulevard as the definitive hollywood horror movie, noting that almost everything in the script is ghoulish. The only other person besides norma living at the mansion is normas valet, max, whose unofficial job is to prime normas fragile but larger than. Silent movie star norma desmond longs for a return to the big screen, having been discarded by tinsel town with the advent of talkies. In the gutter lie dead leaves, scraps of paper, burnt matches and cigarette butts. Like xanadu, norma desmonds estate in 1950s sunset boulevard is unsettling, but not for the same reasons. Now the camera leaves the sign and moves east, the grey asphalt of the. Joe gillis tries to pitch him a story for a movie about a star shortstop whom gangsters try to force to throw the world series, but betty a scriptreader for paramount bursts. Sunset boulevard 1950 is a classic black comedydrama, and perhaps the most acclaimed, but darkest filmnoir story about behind the scenes hollywood, selfdeceit, spiritual and spatial emptiness, and the price of fame, greed, narcissism, and ambition. Sunset boulevard reveals the fickleness of movie fans and the cruelty of hollywood. Ageing silent movie star norma desmond gloria swanson takes in flatbroke screenwriter joe gillis william holden in billy wilders brilliant satire noir. In sunset boulevard, norma desmond is an aging silent film queen who refuses to accept that the world has forgotten her.
Billy wilders sunset boulevard is the portrait of a forgotten silent star, living in exile in her grotesque mansion, screening her old films, dreaming of a comeback. The isottafraschini in sunset boulevard old hollywood films. Sunset boulevard, american film noir, released in 1950, that is often cited as one of hollywoods greatest films, especially noted for gloria swansons portrayal of a fading movie star. Joe associates pools with fame and personal fulfillment when he refers to his floating corpse as a. Above all else, sunset boulevard is a cautionary warning about the artifice of hollywood. The following analysis reveals a comprehensive look at the storyform for sunset boulevard. Cinema styleedith head gets gloria swanson ready for her. See more ideas about sunset, film noir and silent film stars.
Sunset boulevard was the last major hollywood film shot on nitrate negative. Wilder critiqued hollywoods toxic star machine, its mistreatment of writers and its system. Sunset boulevard, a 1950 film directed by billy wilder and starring gloria swanson and william holden is probably one of my favorite films. Enter screenwriter joe gillis william holden, who owes a lot of money. Its shadowy world of deceit and selfdeception is perfectly captured in the dark noir cinematography and lighting. Wilder used to tell gloria swanson that her character, norma desmond, was in a sexual relationship with the chimpanzee. Sunset boulevard, the 1950 film noir classic directed and cowritten by billy wilder, did a lot to change that and other myths of old hollywoodlike the real. In the movie, normas address is 10086 sunset boulevard but in reality, the house wasnt on sunset boulevard, or even near it.
See more ideas about sunset, old movies and classic movies. Sunset boulevard 1950 20 special collectors edition bluray all right, mr. She hires a downonhisluck screenwriter named joe gillis to help write a movie to restart her dead career. While the characters are deeply flawed, some of them beyond any redemption, the film still presents them each as complex, sympathetic, and even endearing. In her creepy rundown mansion on sunset boulevard, aging silent screen star norma desmond gloria swanson dreams of reviving her longgone film career.
The milanese company made its name by making race cars, but they discovered the american market in the 1920s. At the time of sunset boulevards release, inground cement pools were a status symbol of the rich and synonymous with hollywood mansions and movie stars. A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return. Billy wilders classic film noir from 1950, sunset boulevard is a dark take on the film industry and the fleeting nature of fame, to this day one of hollywoods most scorching and yet wistful depictions of itself. What is the significance of the chimp in sunset boulevard. Isottafraschini was founded in 1900 by cesare isotta and brothers vincenzo, oreste and antonio fraschini. This is comforting news to the glenn hive portion of the internet that immediately reacted to her loss by hoping that a new sunset boulevard movie would be made or that close would book the. Gloria swanson gives her greatest performance as the silent star norma. The only other person besides norma living at the mansion is normas valet, max, whose unofficial job is to prime normas fragile but larger than life ego. Director billy wilders scathing indictment of hollywood and its fickleness focuses on the imperious and fading silent film star norma desmond gloria swanson and the ambitious young screenwriter william holden she takes under her wing to help craft her comeback a relationship that ends in an. March 21,1949 sequence a al4 start the picture with the actual street sign. Lux radio theater 756 sunset boulevard lux drama old. Sunset boulevard weaves a magnificent tale of faded glory and unfulfilled ambition.
We look at the deeper meaning of billy wilders noir classic sunset boulevard. Unlike most of the analysis found herewhich simply lists the unique individual story appreciationsthis indepth study details the actual encoding for each structural item. Sunset boulevard, clip, william holden, gloria swanson, 1950. But its also a love story, and the love keeps it from becoming simply a waxworks or a freak show. Norma desmonds mansion in sunset boulevard 1950 at. Sunset boulevard 1950 rotten tomatoes movie trailers.
Sunset boulevard, clip, william holden, gloria swanson. He remarks that the story is narrated by a dead man whom norma desmond first mistakes for an undertaker, while most of the film takes place in an old, dark house that only opens its doors to the living dead. Billy wilders meticulously restored cinematic glory. Forget the address given in the movie 10086 sunset boulevard, which would place it west of beverly hills, toward bel air, norma desmonds glorious old renaissancestyle mansion could. Why was sunset boulevard shot in black and white when. Irving blvd at the corner of irving and wilshire, half a dozen blocks east of western ave. All about eve has bette davis and a fantastic cast. Sunset boulevard, the 1950 film noir classic directed and cowritten by billy wilder, did a lot to change that and other myths of old hollywoodlike the reallife murder at the heart of the story. Mae west, mary pickford, and pola negri were all approached, but each were concerned that her life came a little too close to the character of a former, and now faded, star. The isottafraschini used in sunset boulevard has norma desmonds initials on the door. Sunset boulevard 1950, the blackest of hollywoods selfportraits, is an old dark house of a ghost story inhabited by the living shadows of its discarded stars. In eluding the repossessors, joe stumbles onto the decaying sunset boulevard mansion of fifty year old faded silent movie star norma desmond, who has largely been forgotten by the movie going public. Sunset boulevard is a musical with book and lyrics by don black and christopher hampton, and music by andrew lloyd webber. The realism in sunset boulevard starts with the actresses wilder first considered to play the part of norma desmond.